Reliability, Windows at Heart of TEAC Meeting

January 13, 2017 /
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Members took a close look at reliability projects – including a large infrastructure project in New Jersey and the results of Regional Transmission Expansion Plan’s second and third 2016 competitive windows – at the Transmission Expansion Advisory Committee meeting on Jan. 12.

The PSE&G project (Metuchen-Edison-Trenton-Burlington corridor) includes replacement of equipment which has both reached the end of its life and deteriorated because of age.

The Metuchen to Trenton section is an approximately 30-mile 138 kilovolt line that is about 86 years old, while the Trenton to Burlington section is approximately 22 miles of 138 kV circuit, about 75 years old.

PJM is recommending a three-part project to the board for approval at its February board meeting to rebuild the 138 kV lines to 230 kV. The costs for each part are as follows:

Metuchen to Brunswick – $126 million

Brunswick to Trenton – $265 million

Trenton to Burlington – $293 million

In addition, PJM reviewed five projects from the second competitive window (pages 22-34) that it will recommend to the Board. The estimated cost of these projects is $35.65 million.

The five proposals include an $18.7 million project to address overloads in Ohio and an $11.26 million project to reconfigure and expand a 500 kV substation in northeastern Pennsylvania.

The third competitive window in 2016 opened on Oct. 31 and closed Nov. 15. The scope for the window was projects related to generation deliverability and common mode outages (both thermal and voltage) and a short-circuit analysis.

At this time, PJM will recommend to the board four proposals from this window, estimated at $33.5 million. PJM will continue to review proposals and will present a more detailed overview at a future TEAC.

In addition, PJM presented possibilities for replacing a substation and transformers in Newark; this aged and obsolete equipment is approaching its end of its life. The station is located in downtown Newark, N.J. and serves government, education and transportation centers. There will be further discussion at the February TEAC

In other business, PJM presented on:

2017 RTEP Assumptions – All existing generation expected to be in service for the year being studied will be modeled

While the TEAC did not discuss the analysis of Artificial Island, PJM did discuss the timing of a special TEAC to discuss the project, expected at the beginning of March. PJM also expects to discuss the project at the February TEAC meeting. PJM announced earlier that its comprehensive analysis and recommended solution for issues related to Artificial Island won’t be presented to the board until April.

“While PJM’s analysis is progressing well, during discussion of preliminary results with stakeholders, several questions and considerations were raised,” Steve Herling, vice president – Planning, said in an emailed announcement. “More time is needed to evaluate and respond to these questions and considerations.”

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